Ars moriendi
2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: General history
Ars moriendi ("The Art of Dying") is the name of two related Latin texts dating from about 1415 and 1450 which offer advice on the protocols and procedures of a good death and on how to "die well", according to Christian precepts of the late Middle Ages. It was written within the historical context of the effects of the macabre horrors of the Black Death 60 years earlier and consequent social upheavals of the 15th century. It was very popular, translated into most West European languages, and was the first in a western literary tradition of guides to death and dying.
There was originally a "long version" and then a later "short version" containing eleven woodcut pictures as instructive images which could be easily explained and memorized.
Long version
The original "long version", called Tractatus (or Speculum) artis bene moriendi, was composed in 1415 by an anonymous Dominican friar, probably at the request of the Council of Constance (1414–1418, Germany). It was widely read and translated into most West European languages, and was very popular in England where a literary tradition based on it survived until the 17th century Holy Living and Holy Dying which was the "artistic climax" of the consolatory death literature tradition that had begun with Ars moriendi. Other works in the English tradition include The Waye of Dying Well and The Sick Mannes Salve. Ars moriendi was also among the first books printed with movable type and was widely circulated in nearly 100 editions before 1500, in particular in Germany. The long version survives in about 300 manuscript versions, only one illustrated.
Ars moriendi consists of six chapters:
- The first chapter explains that dying has a good side, and serves to console the dying man that death is not something to be afraid of.
- The second chapter outlines the five temptations that beset a dying man, and how to avoid them. These are lack of faith, despair, impatience, spiritual pride, and avarice.
- The third chapter lists the seven questions to ask a dying man, along with consolation available to him through the redemptive powers of Christ's love.
- The fourth chapter expressed the need to imitate Christ's life.
- The fifth chapter addresses the friends and family, outlining the general rules of behaviour at the deathbed.
- The sixth chapter includes appropriate prayers to be said for a dying man.
Short version
The "short version", whose appearance shortly precedes the introduction in the 1460's of block books (books printed from carved blocks of wood, both text and images on the same block), first dates to around 1450, from the Netherlands. It is mostly an adaptation of the second chapter of the "long version", and contains eleven woodcut pictures. The first ten woodcuts are divided into 5 pairs, with each set showing a picture of the devil presenting one of the 5 temptations, and the second picture showing the proper remedy for that temptation. The last woodcut shows the dying man, presumably having successfully navigated the maze of temptations, being accepted into heaven, and the devils going back to hell in confusion.
The "short version" was as popular as the "long version", but there was no English translation. There are six extant manuscripts of the short version, most not illustrated, and over twenty extant blockbook illustrated editions, using 13 different sets of blocks.
The images
As well as the thirteen different sets of blockbook woodcuts, there is a set by Master ES in engraving. The lengthy controversy over their respective dating and priority is now resolved by the discovery by Fritz Saxl of an earlier illuminated manuscript, of well before 1450, from whose tradition all the images in the printed versions clearly derive. Studies of the watermarks of the blockbooks by Allen Stevenson at the British Museum in the 1960's confirmed that none of them predated the 1460's, so Master ES's engravings are the earliest printed versions, dating from around 1450. The images remain largely the same in all media for the rest of the century.
Significance
The need to prepare for one's death was well known in Medieval literature through death-bed scenes, but before the 15th century there was no literary tradition on how to prepare to die, on what a good death meant, or on how to die well. The protocols, rituals and consolations of the death bed were usually reserved for the services of an attending priest. Ars moriendi was an innovative response by the Church to changing conditions brought about by the Black Death — the ranks of the clergy had been particularly hard hit, and it would take generations to replace them in both quantity and quality — the text and pictures provided the services of a "virtual priest" to the lay public, an idea that just 60 years earlier would have been an unthinkable intrusion on the powers of the church. Ars moriendi provided guidance to dying for those who experienced the macabre horrors of the 14th and 15th centuries, in particular the Black Death; and for those who were looking for ways to distinguish themselves by doing the "proper" acts in a culture increasingly status conscious in a depopulated but consequently more prosperous Europe.
Derivative works
- The Art of Dying is the title of a 1970 song by Beatle George Harrison.
- Ars Moriendi is the name of a 1998 song by the rock band Mr. Bungle.
- Ars moriendi eller de syv dødsmåter (Ars moriendi or the seven ways of dying) is a collection of poems by the Norwegian writer Georg Johannesen.
- Ars Moriendi is the title of an oil painting by artist Peter Myer.
- Ars Moriendi is the title of a song by the black metal band Marduk, the first off the album "La Grande Danse Macabre"
- Ars Moriendi is the title of an album by the industrial band Memorandum, released in 1995 on Cold Meat Industry label
- Ars Moriendi is lithuanian doom metal band.